college basketball Player of the Year

When you think of college basketball in the Midwest you think of the Big Ten. That’s understandable, especially this year, when the conference has multiple teams capable of making Final Four runs. But when it comes to individual honors, the brightest stars in the Midwest—indeed the entire nation—are outside the Big Ten and in places off the national spotlight. TheSportsNotebook is picking Creighton’s Doug McDermott as national Player of the Year and St. Louis’ Jim Crews as Coach of the Year.